Recruiting Report 6.8.11

Columbia High WR Casey Gladney (6-2 183) was offered by Alabama Tuesday at camp and committed after meeting with head coach Nick Saban. “They loved him coming in,” said Columbia coach Kemper Amick who joined Gladney at the camp. “They had watched him on film. I tell you who loved, him and coached him all day, (former NFL receiver) Chris Carter. He said he reminded him of himself. Saban did a good job of going over what they do. I think it will be a good fit.” Gladney also had offers from Tennessee, Kentucky and Cincinnati. Last season he had 49 catches for 865 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Clemson Wednesday offered punter Bradley Pinion of Concord, NC after watching him work out in camp. The Tigers join North Carolina, TCU and East Carolina as offers for Pinion who also is a placekicker. But Clemson likes him strictly as a punter though he might also kickoff. Pinion did not commit. He plans to visit North Carolina next week and then make a decision between the Tar Heels and Tigers. Last season Pinion averaged 38 yards per punt.

DB Trae Elston (6-0 183) of Oxford, AL has offers from Clemson, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Texas Tech, UCLA, Southern Cal, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Nebraska and Pitt among others. He favors Clemson and LSU. “Clemson is close to my home town of Augusta (GA),” Elston said. “Plus, I like coach (Charlie) Harbison. He has been recruiting me for a while.”Elston will visit the Tigers this summer. “I’ve been there before but I haven’t really seen the campus,” he said. “I have seen the facilities and I really like them.” He will visit Oregon, LSU and Nebraska this summer as well. Clemson, LSU and Oregon are three schools Elston plans to travel to on official visits. He did not name a leader.

LB Nick Dawson (6-3 220) of Charlotte will camp at Miami this weekend and Clemson the next. “I love Clemson,” Dawson said. “They’re at the top of my list.” His top five are Clemson, North Carolina, Louisville, Tennessee and Miami in no order. Dawson will camp at Oregon from July 5th through the 9th and is planning to camp at Louisville as well with no date set at this time. Dawson has offers from his top five as well as Kentucky, Illinois, Maryland, Auburn, NC State and Vanderbilt. During spring break, he visited Kentucky, Georgia, Louisville and Tennessee. He does not have a leader.

DB TJ Gurley (5-10 189) of Cairo, GA visited USC last weekend and picked up an offer from the Gamecocks. “I really liked it,” he said. “It’s a nice place. They are up and coming. They are going to make a run for it.” John Butler recruits Gurley for the Gamecocks but he spent most of his time on his trip with defensive coaches Ellis Johnson, Lorenzo Ward and Jeep Hunter. The Gamecocks like him for corner and safety. Gurley also has offers from Tennessee, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Illinois and Louisville. Gurley visited Clemson for a junior day but said he hasn’t heard much from the Tigers. He plans to attend some camps this summer with USC and Clemson possible stops. There is no favorite and Gurley has no timetable for a decision.

USC continues to recruit RB Drew Harris (6-1 208) of Easton, PA and looks good for possibly making Harris’ cut down list. “Coach Mangus is crazy recruiting him,” Harris’ father Drew Sr. said. “South Carolina would be near the top but he hasn’t made his definite list. Columbia is a clean city. He loves the coaching staff. It’s a clean organization and the academics are strong.” Harris has visited USC and will make a return trip if the Gamecocks made the cut. Harris plans to visit as many schools as possible before reducing his list. According to his father, he’s wide open at this point. Some of his other offers are Rutgers, Arizona State, Penn State, Kansas, Notre Dame, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech. Over the past two seasons Harris has rushed for around 4000 yards with 57 touchdowns.

LB Adam Ah Ching (6-0 220) of Greer will take several visits over the summer including one to USC. The Gamecocks have not offered but that could be in Ah Ching’s future. “They said they want to see me in person first,” Ah Ching said. “They scheduled for me to come down at the end of July to get to know me.” It will be his first trip to the Columbia campus. Ah Ching is headed to Nebraska Wednesday and to Utah from there. “I’m going to camp at Utah,” he said. “It should be a lot of fun.” July has Ah Ching taking several trips including Penn State, Rutgers, Ohio State and Michigan. His offers are from BYU, Utah, Oregon, Georgia Tech and Colorado with BYU, Utah, Oregon and Georgia Tech as his favorites.

Interest in Eau Claire DBs Marquise Jones and Marquise Boyan continues to grow according to their coach Ronnie Baker. Jones recently visited Georgia Tech. He now has offers from Duke, Vanderbilt, Marshall, Furman, SC State, Newberry, Toledo and Army. And Boyan has offers from Furman, Georgia State, Arkansas State and Clark-Atlanta. He’s also getting interest from Marshall, Toledo, Citadel, Wofford, Gardner-Webb, SC State and Charleston Southern.